A Metairie doctor indicted two years ago in a child pornography case, now faces new federal charges of health care fraud, authorities said.

Susan Poag / The Times-PicayuneU.S. Attorney Jim Letten

Dr. Daniel Joachim, 51, was charged Wednesday in federal court along with Maryland company Physicians Analytical Services Inc., according to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's office. Joachim and the company are accused of fraudulently billing insurance companies and pension and benefits programs for surgical monitoring services.

Joachim was first charged in federal court with receipt of child pornography in August 2010. He is accused of trying to receive sexually explicit images of children and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison if convicted, according to court records.

Between 2004 and April 2010, Joachim served as medical director of Intra-Op Monitoring Service, Inc., a Maryland company headquartered in Covington. The company provided doctors who remotely-monitored neurophysiologic surgeries using computer equipment and Internet connections. Joachim was one of the doctors who was supposed to monitor procedures, court records said.

Physician's Analytical Service Inc., was owned by Intra-Op. and served as its billing agency. Prosecutors allege that Physician's Analytical billed for monitoring during surgeries where no Internet connection was established or technical difficulties prevented doctors from monitoring the entire procedure. The company is accused of padding its bills by claiming that monitoring occurred beyond the allowed time frames, court records said.

Prosecutors also allege that, in some instances, Physicians Analytical billed companies even though the computer monitoring was performed by employees posing as doctors, court records said. Joachim is accused of having an Intra-Ops employee who was not a doctor log in and monitor procedures in his place when he wasn't available, court records said.

If convicted on all counts, Joachim faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Physicians Analytical could be fined up to $500,000 if convicted, Letten's office said.

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Michelle Hunter can be reached at mhunter@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7054.